Widespread power outages in Western Manitoba as wind wreaks havoc on crews

Manitoba Hydro says conditions have become so poor Thursday night, they are unable to work on restoring widespread power outages in southwestern Manitoba until the morning.

The strong winds and dust storm conditions taking over the province throughout the day have led to downed power lines and broken trees have led to a string of outages.

And with the sun going down creating low visibility, and the wind speeds remaining strong, crews were forced to pause work as of 10 p.m. and will resume during daylight hours.

Manitoba Hydro on X: “High winds and dust storm conditions have downed power lines and broken trees throughout southwestern Manitoba, causing widespread outages in the Parkland and Westman regions.” / X

Dust storm and wind warnings remain in place for much of the southern part of the province and wind speeds were projected to reach between 70 to 90 kilometres per hour Thursday

The forecast is not much better Friday, with winds coming out of the west at 50 gusting to 70 kilometres per hour for much of the day.